Abstract:

As this work is written, the new wave of virtual reality is about to hit the mainstream. The idea of virtual reality has been visited and revisited many times, but this might be the first time that technology meets vision in a cost-effective way. The time just might be right for the next medium of storytelling.

This thesis explores the possibilities of virtual reality as a cinematic form of art. VR is a projected illusion of reality, and the viewer relies on the person doing the projection for accuracy. For this, just as in cinema, some ground rules need to be established. These rules become an agreement between the creators and the viewers, and are established as the medium is new.

Artists such as filmmakers need to be active now, in order to have a say in how the medium is shaped. The language of cinema is not directly applicable to cinematic VR, a new grammar needs to be crafted. In this work I ask what role the film editor can play in this process, and what the possibilities are for editing cinematic VR. I also explore cinematic virtual reality and try to define it’s value as a new medium for storytelling.

I picked two theories through which to examine cinematic VR and editing, both from opposite sides of the medium. The first one is Janet H. Murrays “Three Aesthetics of the Medium” for the analysis of interactive and digital story experiences (Murray 1998). The second is editor Walter Murch's “Rule of Six” (Murch 1995), a categorisation of the priorities in making an edit, which I rearrange to suit cinematic VR.

I found that the editor needs to be involved in the process from the beginning, as the main focus of the editors work in cinematic VR shifts from post- to pre-production. I describe this work in a case, the pre-production of the cinematic VR film “Ego Cure” that is currently in production at Aalto School of Art, Design and Architecture.

Immersion and a certain degree of agency are the strongest priorities in crafting a cinematic experience in VR. The rules I explore are aimed at cultivating these aspects. As cinematic VR develops and grows to become an art form in it’s own right in the future, these rules will have been made to be broken, and that is just as it should be. Further research needs to be made into the topic of the immersive qualities of of digital narrative, but when it comes to editing cinematic VR it is ultimately a question of trial and error and having the patience to learn from our mistakes.Då detta arbete publiceras gör sig världen redo för nästa våg av virtuell verklighet. Drömmen om en virtuellt skapad verklighet är inte ny, men den här gången kan den vara här för att stanna. För första gången korrelerar visionerna med de tekniska möjligheterna, och kostnaderna för massproduktion av hårdvaran börjar vara realistiska.